The collection is divided into two series. The first contains disparate letters from Airy relating to his publications and his position as Astronomer Royal of England, with mentions of topics such as: electrical experiments, magnets, Observatoire de Paris, stars, and telescopes. Correspondents in this series include: Edward Wedlake Brayley, James Challis, Alexander S. Herschel, Balfour Stewart, Septimus Tebay, John Washington. The second series features a group of documents put together by George May of the Harton Colliery at South Shields (1889) relating to Airy's pendulum experiments at Harton Pit in 1854 to measure the density of the earth.

In addition to correspondence relating to poultry genetics and egg production, there are significant notes concerning breeding records, heredity, and race genetics. There are 42 class notebooks kept by Goodale, and 62 volumes of Mount Hope Poultry Farm family, hatching, mating records for the period 1918 to 1956. The collection includes photographs, glass-lantern lecture slides, and artifacts of poultry feathers.